Dolphins starting running back Lamar Miller is expected to sit behind Daniel Thomas on third downs. But Miller said today that he wants to be an every down back.

“That’s my goal, nobody wants to come out of the game,” Miller said. “That’s something I’ve been working on, just trying to be a complete back so I can be in on third down.”

Philbin praised Thomas’ pass protection skills earlier this week which is crucial on third downs. But Miller said he’s “doing good” in pass protection and Philbin also said that Miller is improving there.

“I’m getting a lot better at it just knowing my technique and being more physical and just blocking for (Ryan) Tannehill.”

Michael Egnew fighting for a job (Allen Eyestone / Post)

PHIBIN LIKES EGNEW: Michael Egnew was supposed to be the Dolphins’ future at tight end when he was drafted in the third round last year. But he didn’t catch a pass in 2012, was criticized by coaches on Hard Knocks last year and seemed like a candidate to be cut this offseason. The Dolphins have a new rookie tight end they really like in Dion Sims, along with Dustin Keller and h-back Charles Clay.

But on the final day of training camp today, when asked which players have really stood out to him, Coach Joe Philbin went to Egnew first.

Egnew caught four passes for 52 yards in the preseason opener against Dallas. He didn’t have a reception in the second preseason game against Jacksonville. While he had fumbling issues early in training camp he appears to be holding on to the ball better in recent practices and his blocking has also improved.

Philbin focused on second year guys. He said Olivier Vernon “has taken another step forward.”

“Jonathan Martin, Lamar Miller, Josh Kaddu is another guy a year ago this time was feeling his way through. He’s made a lot of progress.”

Whether Philbin’s praise of Egnew and Kaddu (a second-year linebacker selected in the fifth round last year) is enough for them to make the team remains to be seen. But Egnew, in particular, seems to be growing on Philbin. Perhaps with Keller in Miami on a one year deal, Philbin will hold on to an additional tight end.

INJURY UPDATES: If you’re keeping score at home on the mess at right guard, here’s the latest:
– John Jerry is back doing individual work but hasn’t yet participated in team drills.

– Nate Garner, who replaced the struggling Josh Samuda briefly (including on Miami’s scoring drive against Jacksonville), is out indefinitely with an undisclosed injury.

– Samuda is starting again, by default.
“He’s got to do a little bit of a better job in pass protection,” Philbin said of Samuda. “That’s the the one thing that impacted him from a negative standpoint in the game the other night. He’s got .. to (put) his body in between himself and the quarterback. It’s really that simple.”

– Lance Louis, the offseason signee, has practiced minimally with the team but is not ready for game action yet. Philbin said today that Louis has to appear in a game “sooner rather than later” to have any chance at the job. He didn’t give any sort of timetable, saying the team will evaluate the tape.

Other injury news: Rookie defensive end Dion Jordan is still not practicing and there is no timetable for his return as he continues to rehab from offseason shoulder injury. So Miami today…

….SIGNED ANTWAN APPLEWHITE: Applewhite, a defensive end, started 17 career games for the Chargers and Panthers. His best season came in his second year in the league when head 48 tackles and three sacks for San Diego. He appeared in five games last season for Carolina with six tackles and a sack.

RAINY DAY FINALE: The public’s final chance to see the Dolphins practice this year was washed away.

Inclement weather forced Miami for the first time this training camp to practice indoors in the bubble. There are no seats in the bubbles so only VIPs and the media were allowed to watch practice from the sideline.

Ryan Tannehill threw one touchdown today in the corner of the end zone to Brian Hartline. He threw another 60-yard deep pass in the end zone to Mike Wallace, but he would’ve been sacked by Vernon if he wasn’t wearing the red jersey. Vernon blew past Martin.

Aaron Corp, who is currently the third string quarterback with Pat Devlin out with an injury, threw two interceptions (Will Davis and Philip Wheeler).

That concludes “training camp.” Players no longer have to stay in a hotel and the rest of the practices, simply referred to as preseason practices, will be held out of the public eye.

SPECIAL TEAMS GOT STURGIS’ BACK: It was no secret that former Dolphins kicker Dan Carpenter was close friends with punter Brandon Fields and long snapper John Denney.

But with the Dolphins cutting Carpenter on Wednesday, Fields said everyone is behind Sturgis.

“It’s not like (pauses); we’ve been trying to help him out throughout the whole entire process,” Fields said. “But now it’s no longer competing. It’s now focusing on mentally getting prepared and what to do to get ready fro the season.”

Fields said Sturgis has done a great job.

“He handles himself well,” Fields said. “Mentally he’s very prepared and obviously he’s shown with his leg that he can do it also.”

Fields said he spoke to Carpenter after he was cut and that Carpenter “was professional about it.” Carpenter is the 21st most accurate kicker in NFL history but graded as just the 16th-best kicker in the league last year and missed key kicks against the Jets and Cardinals.

“He’s taking it how he should and preparing to move on,” said Fields who added that Carpenter “absolutely” will be picked up by another team.
“It’s just the fact of the business. This is going to at some point happen to everybody,” Fields said. “Sooner or later you’re going to get off the train. Whether or not you’re kicked off or you leave on your own accord, it’s going to happen to everybody. You have to know it going into it and be professional about it.”